The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution is approved by Congress on August
7 and authorizes President Lyndon Johnson to "take all necessary
measures to repel any armed attack against forces of the United
States and to prevent further aggression." The resolution passes
unanimously in the House, and by a margin of 82-2 in the Senate.
The Resolution allows Johnson to wage all out war against North
Vietnam without ever securing a formal Declaration of War from Congress.
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